Carol Ann Rinzler is a former nutrition columnist for the New York Daily News and the author of more than 30 health-related books, including Controlling Cholesterol For Dummies, Heartburn and Reflux For Dummies, The New Complete Book of Food, the award-winning Estrogen and Breast Cancer: A Warning for Women, and Leonardo's Foot, which the American Association for the Advancement of Science described as "some of the best writing about science for the non-scientist encountered in recent years."

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 3

Part 1: Nutrition 101: The Basic Facts about Nutrition 5

Chapter 1: Nutrition Equals Life: Knowing What to Eat to Get What You Need 7

Discovering the First Principles of Nutrition 8

Breaking nutrients into two groups 9

Looking at essential nutrients 10

Protecting the Nutrients in Your Food 12

Knowing Your Nutritional Status 13

Fitting Food into the Medicine Chest 14

Finding Nutrition Facts 14

Nutrition people 14

Questions to ask about any study 15

Chapter 2: Digestion: The 24/7 Food Factory 21

Introducing the Digestive System 21

Digestion: One Step at a Time 23

Your brain, eyes, and nose 23

Your mouth 24

Your stomach 25

Your small intestine 25

Your large intestine 27

Chapter 3: How Much Nutrition Do You Need? 31

RDAs: Guidelines for Good Nutrition 31

Proteins, vitamins, and minerals: The essentials 32

Recommendations for carbohydrates, fats, dietary fiber, and alcohol 32

Different people, different needs 33

AIs: The Nutritional Numbers Formerly Known as ESADDIs 34

DRI: The Totally Complete Nutrition Guide 35

Chapter 4: Bigger But Not Better 41

The Obesity Epidemic 42

Observing the Obesity Map 42

Determining How Much You Should Weigh 44

Weight charts and tables 44

The BMI: Another way to rate your weight 46

Understanding What the Numbers Really Mean 48

Increasing the odds of accuracy 49

Seeing red flags on weight and health 49

Facing the Numbers When They Don't Fit Your Body 50

Chapter 5: Calories: Powering Up the Body 53

Counting the Calories in Food 54

Empty calories 55

Every calorie counts 56

Determining How Many Calories You Need 57

Resting energy expenditure (REE) 57

Sex, glands, and chocolate cake 58

Energy for work 60

Calculating Your Daily Calorie Needs 61

Part 2: The Good Stuff in Your Food 63

Chapter 6: Protein Power 65

Understanding How Your Body Uses Proteins 65

Moving Proteins from Your Dinner Plate to Your Cells 67

Differentiating Dietary Proteins 68

Essential and nonessential proteins 68

Evaluating proteins 69

Figuring Out How Much Protein You Need 73

Calculating the correct amount 73

Dodging protein deficiency 74

Boosting your protein intake: Special considerations 74

Avoiding protein overload 75

Chapter 7: Facing Facts on Fat and Cholesterol 77

Discovering How Your Body Uses Fats 77

Understanding what fats do for you 78

Pulling energy from fat 78

Defining Fatty Acids and Their Relationship to Dietary Fat 80

Focusing on the Fats in Food 82

Looking at the fatty acids in food 82

Identifying the foods with fats 84

Getting the right amount of fat 84

Considering Cholesterol and You 87

Cholesterol and heart disease 87

Lipoproteins 88

Diet and cholesterol 90

Chapter 8: Carbohydrates: A Complex Story 93

Checking Out Carbohydrates 93

Simple carbohydrates 94

Complex carbohydrates 94

Dietary fiber 94

Carbohydrates and Energy: A Biochemical Love Story 95

How glucose becomes energy 96

How pasta ends up on your hips when too many carbs pass your lips 97

Other ways your body uses carbohydrates 97

Finding the Carbohydrates You Need 98

Some people have problems with carbohydrates 98

Some people need extra carbohydrates 99

Dietary Fiber: The Non-Nutrient in Carbohydrate Foods 101

Defining the two kinds of dietary fiber 101

Getting dietary fiber from food 102

Determining how much fiber you need 102

Chapter 9: Alcohol: Another Form of Grape and Grain 109

Creating Alcohol Beverages 110

Fermented alcohol products 110

Distilled alcohol products 110

The foods used to make beverage alcohol 111

Checking How Much Alcohol Is in That Bottle 112

Following Alcohol through Your Body 112

Understanding How Alcohol Affects Your Health 114

The physical effects of excessive drinking 115

Alcoholism: An addiction disease 116

Who shouldn't drink 117

Alcohol and age 118

Advice from the Sages: Moderation 119

Chapter 10: Validating Vitamins 121

Understanding What Vitamins Your Body Needs 121

Fat-soluble vitamins 123

Water-soluble vitamins 126

Discovering Where to Get Your Vitamins 131

Too Much or Too Little: Avoiding Two Ways to Go Wrong with Vitamins 131

Vitamin deficiencies 132

Vitamin megadoses 133

Acceptable Exceptions: Taking Extra Vitamins as Needed 135

I'm taking medication 135

I'm a smoker 135

I never eat animals 135

I'm pregnant 135

I'm breast-feeding 136

I'm approaching menopause 137

I have very light skin or very dark skin 137

Chapter 11: Making Mineral Magic 139

Getting the Minerals You Need 140

The major minerals 141

The trace elements 144

Knowing What's Too Much and What's Too Little 148

Avoiding mineral deficiency 148

Understanding the risks of overdoses 149

Figuring Out When You May Need More than the RDA 151

You're a strict vegetarian 151

You live inland, away from the ocean 152

You're a man 152

You're a woman 152

You're pregnant or nursing 152

Chapter 12: The Wonder of Water 155

Investigating the Many Ways Your Body Uses Water 156

Maintaining the Right Amount of Water in Your Body 156

The electrolytes' primary job 158

Other tasks electrolytes perform 159

Getting the Water You Need 159

Evaluating Electrolytes 161

Sodium 162

Potassium and chloride 162

When you need more 162

Dehydration: When the Body Doesn't Get Enough Water 164

First signs 165

Worsening problems 165

Really bad trouble 165

The crash 165

Chapter 13: Added Attractions: Supplements 167

Introducing Dietary Supplements 167

Examining Two Reasons to Use Dietary Supplements 169

When food isn't enough 169

Using supplements as insurance 170

Exploring Supplement Safety: An Iffy Proposition 172

Choosing the Most Effective Supplements 174

Getting Nutrients from Food Rather Than Supplements 178

Part 3: Hunger, Health, and Habits 179

Chapter 14: Why You Eat When You Eat 181

Underlining the Difference between Hunger and Appetite 181

Refueling: The Cycle of Hunger and Satiety 183

Recognizing hunger 183

Identifying the hormones that say, "I'm hungry" and "I'm full" 183

Beating the four-hour hungries 185

The better way: Five or six small meals 185

Maintaining a healthy appetite 186

Responding to Your Environment on a Gut Level .187

Baby, it's cold outside 187

Exercising more than your mouth 188

Taking medicine that changes your appetite 188

Revealing Unhealthy Relationships with Food 189

Obesity 189

Anorexia nervosa 190

Bulimia nervosa 190

Binge eating disorder 191

Chapter 15: Why You Like the Foods You Like 193

Tackling Taste: How Your Brain and Tongue Work Together 193

The five basic flavors 194

Your health and your taste buds 195

Tricking your taste buds 197

Determining Deliciousness 197

Listening to your body 197

Loving the food you're with: Geography and taste 198

Taking offense to food and flavors 200

Changing the Menu: Adapting to Exotic Foods 201

Learning to like unusual foods 202

Stirring the stew: The culinary benefits of immigration 202

Chapter 16: Building Your New and Improved Healthful Diet 207

Discovering the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 207

Finding What's New in the 2020-2025 Edition 209

Factor in the fats 212

Subtract the added sugar 213

Get adequate essential nutrients 214

Go fish for good food 214

Bring on the veggies 214

Get up and go 215

Do the Guidelines Work? 218

Chapter 17: Choosing Wisely with Pyramids, Plates, and Patterns 221

Checking Out Basic Diet Pictures 221

The original USDA Food Guide Pyramid 222

From pyramid to plate: The evolution of the Food Guide 222

An assortment of pyramids and plates 224

Tracking Food Patterns 226

Understanding the Nutrition Facts Label 227

Getting the facts 228

Relying on labels: Health claims 230

Navigating the highs and lows 232

Listing other stuff 235

Using Pyramids, Plates, Patterns, and Labels to Choose Healthful Foods 235

Chapter 18: Eating Smart When Eating Out 237

Reading a Restaurant Menu 237

Apportion the portions 238

Ask for proof .239

Editing Your Menu Choices 239

Start simple 239

Elevate appetizers to entrees 240

Skip the fat on the bread 240

Undress the veggies 240

Minimize the main dish 241

Sideline sauces 242

Satisfy your sweet tooth 242

Writing Rules for Chain Restaurants 243

Exploring the Healthful Side of Fast Food 245

Choosing wisely at the...